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From: john@gcc-bill.ARPA (John Allred)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: ASAT test
Message-ID: <342@gcc-bill.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 4-Oct-85 12:03:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: gcc-bill.342
Posted: Fri Oct  4 12:03:18 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 7-Oct-85 04:52:17 EDT
References: <2258@ukma.UUCP>
Reply-To: john@gcc-bill.UUCP (John Allred)
Organization: General Computer Company, Cambridge Ma (Home of the HyperDrive)
Lines: 28

In article <2258@ukma.UUCP> sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) writes:
>
>I am completely for the ASAT tests.  Anything that can shoot down nuclear
>missiles before they can kill millions of people is OK by me.  Even if they
>only stop 10%, that's more people that will live.
>
>I am surprised that so many people see the ASAT program as evil.  We are
>talking about a defensive weapon here.  Why don't you anti-ASAT people
>go campaign against machine guns.  They have killed more people than an
>ASAT ever will.
>
>-  Sean Casey                           UUCP:   sean@ukma.UUCP   or
>-  Department of Mathematics                    {cbosgd,anlams,hasmed}!ukma!sean
>-  University of Kentucky               ARPA:   ukma!sean@ANL-MCS.ARPA

Sorry, Sean, but you're confusing ASAT with SDI.  ASAT only kills satellites,
and not ballistic missiles.

As for your comment about stopping 10% of the warheads:  well, if those war-
heads were going toward our Minuteman silos, yes, SDI enhances the silo's
survivability.  On the other hand, if those warheads are going toward a city, 
it is not clear if significantly more people will survive.  In general, one
warhead leaking through SDI to hit a city is unacceptable, in my judgement.

-- 
John Allred
General Computer Company 
uucp: seismo!harvard!gcc-bill!john